Fan device for smoke exhauster

ABSTRACT

A fan device for a smoke exhauster includes a housing having an upper plate and a lower plate, and the upper plate is secured to a motor and rotated by the motor, the lower plate includes a bore to allow an air to flow into the housing of the fan device, and a number of fan blades secured between the upper plate and the lower plate and each fan blade include a curved bottom edge to allow the air to flow into the chamber of the fan device before contacting with the fan blades, and the fan blades each include a number of orifices for reducing a noise generated by the fan blades when the fan blades are rotated relative to the motor. The fan blades are preferably disposed inclined relative to the upper plate and the lower plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a smoke exhauster, and moreparticularly to a smoke exhauster including an improved fan device forincreasing the air drawing effect thereof and for reducing the noisethat may be generated by the smoke exhauster.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The applicants have developed various kinds of typical smoke exhausterswhich comprise one or more centrifugal fan devices each having a fancasing and a number of radially extended fan blades directly punched orforged or extended from the fan casing.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,429 to Chiang et al. discloses one ofthe typical smoke exhausters comprising a number of radially extendedfan blades directly punched or forged or extended from the fan casingfor agitating the air or the like and for generating a circulating air.Due to the directly punching or forming of the fan blades from the fancasing, the fan blades may only be formed with a single curvature andmay include a limited or a small area for actuating the air.

For increasing the air drawing effect to the fan device, the applicantshave further developed various kinds of typical smoke exhausterscomprising a fan device including a number of preformed fan blades to beassembled and secured between two casing members for increasing the airdrawing effect to the fan devices.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,481 to Chiang et al., and U.S. Pat. No.6,945,753 to Chiang et al. discloses two of the typical smoke exhausterseach comprising a fan device including a number of preformed and curvedand suitably shaped fan blades to be assembled and secured between anupper plate and a lower plate for increasing the air drawing effect tothe fan devices.

However, the fan blades include a solid structure that may generate agreat noise particularly when the fan blades are rotated or driven oroperated in a great speed.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate theafore-described disadvantages of the conventional smoke exhausters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a smokeexhauster including an improved fan device for increasing the airdrawing effect thereof and for reducing the noise that may be generatedby the smoke exhauster.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a fandevice for a smoke exhauster comprising a housing including an upperplate, and a lower plate disposed below the upper plate for forming achamber between the upper plate and the lower plate, the upper plateincluding a number of slits formed therein, the lower plate including anumber of slots formed therein, and including a bore formed therein, andthe upper plate including a casing provided therein, the chamber of thefan device being communicating with the bore of the lower plate to allowan air to flow through the bore of the lower plate and to flow into thechamber of the fan device, a motor received in the casing of the upperplate and including a spindle secured to the casing of the upper plateof the housing for allowing the casing of the housing to be rotated anddriven by the spindle of the motor and to be rotated relative to themotor, and a number of fan blades disposed in the chamber which isformed between the upper plate and the lower plate of the housing, thefan blades each include an upper portion having a number of earsextended upwardly therefrom and engaged through the slits of the upperplate for securing the fan blades to the upper plate, and each include alower portion having a number of ears extended downwardly therefrom andengaged through the slots of the lower plate for securing the fan bladesto the lower plate and for securing the fan blades between the upperplate and the lower plate, and the fan blades each include a curvedbottom edge curved inwardly and upwardly from the lower plate toward theupper plate to allow the air to flow into the chamber of the fan devicebefore contacting with the fan blades, and the fan blades each include anumber of orifices formed therein for allowing the air to flow throughthe orifices of the fan blades and for reducing a noise generated by thefan blades when the fan blades are rotated relative to the motor.

The fan blades each includes a curved outer segment, and a planar innersegment. The fan blades are preferably disposed inclined relative to theupper plate and the lower plate for increasing an air scooping effect ofthe fan blades.

Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from a careful reading of the detailed description providedhereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial exploded view of a fan device for a smoke exhausterin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the fan device for the smokeexhauster;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan schematic view of the fan device for the smokeexhauster;

FIG. 4 is a side plan schematic view of the fan device for the smokeexhauster;

FIG. 5 is an upper plan schematic view of the fan device for the smokeexhauster;

FIG. 6 is a partial exploded and partial cross sectional view of the fandevice for the smoke exhauster taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 5,illustrating the inner structure of the fan device for the smokeexhauster.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1-5, illustrated is afan device 1 for attaching or engaging into an outer receptacle (notshown) of a smoke exhauster in accordance with the present invention,the fan device 1 comprises a housing 10 including an upper plate 11having a recess or depression or concave 12 formed in the upper portionthereof, or including a casing 13 provided or formed in the middleportion of the upper plate 11 and having the recess or depression orconcave 12 formed in the middle portion of the casing 13 for receiving amotor 30 (FIGS. 5, 6), and including a tube or barrel or hub 14 providedor formed or extended outwardly from the middle or center portion of thecasing 13 for receiving a spindle 31 that is extended outwardly from thelower portion of the motor 30 (FIGS. 1-3 and 6), and one or morefasteners 16 may be used to secure the spindle 31 of the motor 30 to thehub 14 of the casing 13.

The motor 30 may further include a frame or bracket 32 (FIGS. 5, 6) forattaching or securing to the outer receptacle (not shown) of the smokeexhauster and thus for allowing the casing 13 of the housing 10 to berotated or driven by the spindle 31 of the motor 30 and to be rotatedrelative to the motor 30 and the outer receptacle of the smokeexhauster. The upper plate 11 includes a number of slits 17, 18, such astwo rows or two circles of slits 17, 18 formed therein (FIGS. 1, 5) forattaching or securing a number of fan blades 40 to the upper plate 11 ofthe housing 10. The rows or two circles of slits 17, 18 preferablyinclude different inclinations or are inclined relative to each other,best shown in FIG. 1. The housing 10 further includes a lower plate 20disposed below the upper plate 11 and to be secured to the upper plate11 with the fan blades 40, and for forming a space or chamber 21 betweenthe upper plate 11 and the lower plate 20.

The lower plate 20 includes a bore 22 formed therein (FIGS. 1-3) andcommunicating with the chamber 21 of the housing 10 of the fan device 1,for allowing the air to be drawn through the bore 22 of the lower plate20 and to be drawn into the chamber 21 of the housing 10 of the fandevice 1. The lower plate 20 includes a number of slots 23 formedtherein (FIGS. 1-3) and also provided for attaching or securing the fanblades 40 to the lower plate 20 of the housing 10. Each of the fanblades 40 include an upper portion 41 having one or more ears 42extended upwardly therefrom and engaged through the slits 17, 18 of theupper plate 11, and bent or secured to the upper plate 11, for securingthe fan blades 40 to the upper plate 11. Each of the fan blades 40further include a lower portion 43 having one or more ears 44 extendeddownwardly therefrom and engaged through the slots 23 of the lower plate20, and bent or secured to the lower plate 20, for securing the fanblades 40 to the lower plate 20.

The fan blades 40 may thus be solidly attached and secured between theouter peripheral portion of the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 20.As shown in FIG. 1, each of the fan blades 40 include a curved lower orbottom portion or edge 45 curved inwardly and upwardly from the lowerplate 20 toward the upper plate 11 and/or the casing 13 of the housing10. As shown in FIGS. 1-3, each of the fan blades 40 include a first orouter curved segment 46 and a second or inner planar segment 47 forscooping the air in the chamber 21 of the housing 10. It is preferablethat the curved outer segment 46 of the fan blade 40 includes a widthequals to or greater than that of the lower plate 20 of the housing 10,but smaller than that of the planar inner segment 47 of the fan blade40. The above-described structure for the housing 10 of the fan device 1has been disclosed and patented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,945,753 to Chiang etal.

The fan blades 40 of the housing 10 of the fan device 1 each furtherinclude a number of orifices 48 formed therein for allowing the air toflow through the orifices 48 of the fan blades 40 and for reducing thenoise that may be generated by the fan blades 40 when the fan blades 40are rotated or driven or operated in a great speed. The fan blades ofthe typical fan devices have no noise reducing orifices formed in thefan blades such that the fan blades of the typical fan devices maygenerate great noises particularly when the fan blades are rotated ordriven or operated in a great speed. It is to be noted that a single fandevice 1 has been shown and illustrated in FIGS. 1-6 of the drawingfigures, and the smoke exhauster may include two or more fan devices 1attached to the outer receptacle of the smoke exhauster and each drivenby one motor 30.

It is further to be noted that the fan blades 40 are shown in thedrawing figures to be secured between the upper plate 11 and the lowerplate 20, and the fan blades 40 may be disposed or arrangedperpendicular to the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 20, or the fanblades 40 may be arranged or disposed to be tilted or inclined relativeto the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 20, best shown in FIGS. 4 and6, for increasing the air drawing or scooping effect of the fan blades40. In operation, as shown in FIGS. 1-3 and 6, due to the formation orprovision of the curved lower or bottom edges 45 of the fan blades 40,the fan device 1 may include a widely opened lower portion formed anddefined by the bore 22 of the lower plate 20 and the chamber 21 of thefan device 1, for allowing the air to flow through the bore 22 of thelower plate 20 and deeper into the chamber 21 of the fan device 1,before the air may be contacted and scooped by the fan blades 40.

The formation or provision of the orifices 48 in the fan blades 40allows the air to flow through the orifices 48 of the fan blades 40 andto reduce the noise that may be generated by the fan blades 40, and theinclination of the fan blades 40 relative to the upper plate 11 and thelower plate 20 may further increase the air drawing or scooping effectof the fan blades 40.

Accordingly, the smoke exhauster in accordance with the presentinvention includes an improved fan device for increasing the air drawingeffect thereof and for reducing the noise that may be generated by thesmoke exhauster.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure hasbeen made by way of example only and that numerous changes in thedetailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as hereinafter claimed.

1. A fan device for a smoke exhauster comprising: a housing including anupper plate, and a lower plate disposed below said upper plate forforming a chamber between said upper plate and said lower plate, saidupper plate including a plurality of slits formed therein, said lowerplate including a plurality of slots formed therein, and including abore formed therein, and said upper plate including a casing providedtherein, said chamber of said fan device being communicating with saidbore of said lower plate to allow an air to flow through said bore ofsaid lower plate and to flow into said chamber of said fan device, amotor received in said casing of said upper plate and including aspindle secured to said casing of said upper plate of said housing forallowing said casing of said housing to be rotated and driven by saidspindle of said motor and to be rotated relative to said motor, and aplurality of fan blades disposed in said chamber which is formed betweensaid upper plate and said lower plate of said housing, said fan bladeseach including an upper portion having a plurality of ears extendedupwardly therefrom and engaged through said slits of said upper platefor securing said fan blades to said upper plate, and each including alower portion having a plurality of ears extended downwardly therefromand engaged through said slots of said lower plate for securing said fanblades to said lower plate and for securing said fan blades between saidupper plate and said lower plate, and said fan blades each including acurved bottom edge curved inwardly and upwardly from said lower platetoward said upper plate to allow the air to flow into said chamber ofsaid fan device before contacting with said fan blades, and said fanblades each including a plurality of orifices formed therein forallowing the air to flow through said orifices of said fan blades andfor reducing a noise generated by said fan blades when said fan bladesare rotated relative to said motor.
 2. The smoke exhauster as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said fan blades each includes a curved outer segment,and a planar inner segment.
 3. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim1, wherein said fan blades are disposed inclined relative to said upperplate and said lower plate for increasing an air scooping effect of saidfan blades.